Citicoline Restores Endoplasmic Reticulum Homeostasis by Regulating Oxidative Stress Through CDO1 to Reverse Myopia Progression.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether citicoline alleviates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by modulating oxidative stress in myopia.

RESULTS

A form-deprivation myopia model in guinea pigs and a hypoxia-induced model in human scleral fibroblasts revealed that citicoline downregulated cysteine dioxygenase 1 (CDO1) expression, increased glutathione, and reduced reactive oxygen species. These changes mitigated oxidative stress, suppressed ER stress, maintained cellular homeostasis, and inhibited extracellular matrix remodeling, leading to reduced axial elongation.

INNOVATION: Transcriptomic profiling identified CDO1 as a novel downstream effector of citicoline, linking cysteine metabolism to oxidative and ER stress regulation in myopia.

CONCLUSION

Citicoline shows potential to delay myopia progression by alleviating ER stress through CDO1-mediated redox regulation, providing preclinical mechanistic insight into its possible role in myopia control. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 45, 113-132.